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The Effect Of Gender In Rhythmic Ability Among Preschool Children Of 5-6 Years Old

IntroductionThe ancient Greek philosopher Platon (4th century B. C.) first noted the educational value of music and movementcombination, which contributes to physical and emotional equilibrium of the human. Nowadays, a lot of educationalresearchers try to analyze the rhythmic ability of children as measured in either spatial and temporal accuracy [1] ormovement performance according acoustic and visual stimuli [2] or age development [3] or in correlation withacademic skills [4] or as a result of intervention program with Orff’s and Dalcroze’s skills [5]. The aim of the presentstudy is to examine the effect of gender in the performance of High/Scope Rhythmic Competence Αnalysis Τest, [6] inpreschool children.

MethodsNinety-four children (40 boys and 54 girls) of 5-6 years old were measured totally. The test included the followingskills: a)Pat lap with both hands,b) Pat the lap alternative c) Walk the beat seated d) Walk the beat standing, in place e)Walk beat, forward f) Walk beat, backwards. All the children tried the skills twice following a clear tempo of 120 and130 b/m. The mean score for each child was measured. An independent sample t-test was used to evaluate the effect ofgender in rhythmic ability of children.

Discussion / ConclusionsIt seems that rhythmic ability constitutes a gender characteristic that appoints girls more capable than boys in rhythmicskills performance. For this reason, preschool educators must give more emphasis in boys in rhythmic skills training.